Asayish Forces Ask Displaced People from Al-Anbar and Salah al-Din to Leave Kirkuk

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights met a displaced person from Fallujah, who revealed that security forces affiliated to Kurdish political parties asked displaced people in Kirkuk to leave the city.

11 - October 2016

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) has documented that some displaced families from Salah al-Din and Al-Anbar to Kirkuk, were forced to hand over their identification documents to Asayish Forces (the intelligence arm of the Kurdistan Regional Government), who would then force them to leave Kirkuk and go back to their cities, despite the security risks that still exist. However, Azad Jabari, the head of the Security Committee in the Provincial Council in Kirkuk, justified these actions as "personal behavior" committed by a minority of security forces.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights met a displaced person from Fallujah, who revealed that security forces affiliated to Kurdish political parties asked displaced people in Kirkuk to leave the city.

An eyewitness, a university staff employee who was displaced from Fallujah and lives in Laylan camp in Kirkuk province, told the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights: "Kurdish security forces have taken away the families' original documents, focusing particularly on the Laylan camp. One of my relatives contacted me and said that similar measures are being taken by the security forces in Benjh Ali as well as in the Qadisiyah's first and second neighborhoods in Kirkuk province." He also spoke about the village of Turklan, located northwest of Kirkuk, stating, “A few weeks ago on a Thursday, seven families were deported, or forcibly removed from the village of Turklan, all from Fallujah.

Another displaced person from Tikrit who now lives in Kirkuk told the IOHR: "There is a Kurdish security force that monitors homes of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and asks them to leave the province after taking away their original identification documents in the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr and Al-Nidaa. There is another force that follows the same procedure in Turklan village." He added, "The same campaign has occurred in Benjh Ali and included several people from Al-Karmah, and the deportation from Al-Qadisiyah included many families from Al-Karmah.

A displaced person from Fallujah stated, "most families have sold their household stuff cheaply under the forcible removal attempts in order to return to their home cities, despite the security threats and lack of services they would face there.

The head of the security committee in the province of Kirkuk revealed that displaced people from Diyala, Ramadi, Tikrit and Nineveh will leave the province based on the instructions of the Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi.

Under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons are prohibited.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights strongly condemns the measures taken by Asayish Forces against internally displaced persons, and considers them clear breaches of international law.

The IOHR calls upon the Iraqi Government, and the Kurdistan Regional Government to intervene to end these violations and the suffering of the displaced persons in Kirkuk.

The IOHR calls on all parties to adhere to International Principles of Human Rights, particularly the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, in addition to International Humanitarian Law.